


If Once You Don't Succeed...

by PurpleMango



Series: Fate's Favorites [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Dramatic Loki (Marvel), F/M, Good Loki (Marvel), Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Manipulative Tom Riddle, Natasha Romanov Feels, Natasha Romanov Is Not A Robot, Not Happy, Obsessive Tom Riddle, Possessive Behavior, Slytherin, Teasing, Tom Riddle is His Own Warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-14
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2020-03-04 22:50:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18822361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleMango/pseuds/PurpleMango
Summary: Waking up in Fate and Death's white room once again, the two deities have an idea.She said she wanted to back- but they always say to watch what you wish for...Coming face to face with a child version of the man she'd made her enemy multiple times before, will she be able to fix him?Or will he drag her down with him first?





	1. Welcome To Hell--> Place Your Hopes and Dreams Here [____]

**Author's Note:**

> This picks up from right after 'Along Came A Spider Who Sat Down Politely And Frightened Old Voldypants Away' and makes way for the next chapter of our series
> 
> Warning: If you are triggered by manipulative relationships, I would only recommend you read half the story (if even that), and just wait for the next story in the series to come out :/ This will not be a happy story- even if there is some amount of humor to it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor Marvel (I wish)

The white room seemed a bit scattered this time- books lining a few of the walls- and Magic had her head in an old tome that looked about ready to fall to pieces. 

Death, however, smiled at her when she blinked and looked around. “Natasha, dear! We were hoping you’d show up soon!”

“What- why am I here? I’m not done yet?!” Her voice was a bit panicked. 

_ She had to make sure that Harry made it though, get to see Sirius and Remus live better lives, make sure that that rotten bastard Voldyshorts got put down for good! _

Death tilted her head. “You filled out your task spectacularly. Regulus had gone a bit insane after you had rejected him, sneaking into the school to make the Tournament Cup a portkey to Voldemort, and it was placed in the maze. Harry took your place for the third task after his horcrux was removed and destroyed- and because of the fact Tom was so weak the spell that their brother wands created killed him. Harry and Cedric were able to get out of there using the portkey, alerting the Aurors to the fact. More than a few Death Eaters were kissed because of you.”

Natasha felt like screaming. _Of_ _ course  _ _these two hags would find a way for her to suffer even in the best of her lives._ Slumping in a chair, she rubbed a hand over her face. “Tell me, why is this ‘Tom’ guy even doing this again? Why kill senselessly? Does he get off on it?”

At this, Magic looked up with a slight smile. “He had a rough childhood, just like you love.”

 

Tom Riddle liked to think he was a collector, someone who could see the worth of people before even they did. He saw the magic and the potential in people, then with kind words and sweet words, coaxed them to his side. But he was nothing if ruthless to keep those people by his side, until all they could see was him. All they could be was  _ his _ .

So in the second week of school, when a tall pale man in a sharp suit made of pure black material opened the doors to the Great Hall and stepped aside, Tom’s eyes caught on the girl that entered.

With hair the color of fresh blood, the slim girl walked in with an air of power that had his eyes widening. Even through the strange clothes she wore- black pants ripped in a way that made her look dangerous, top hanging loosely off one of her shoulders showing more skin than _any_  other girl would dare to do- the girl radiated confidence.

“Okay drama-queen. We get it. You’re overcompensating.” Her words were teasing, aimed at the man as she rolled her emerald green eyes.

The man grinned down at her, dark eyes showing mischief. “Oh but  _ Princess _ , that’s not what your lover said last night when I was-”

The girl cleared her throat, eyes narrowing on the man. “I have no need to know what you two get up to.” Her eyes swept over the room, a smile tugging on her lips. “Plus, it’s not like he’s _my_ lover. Your boyfriend is very different from my-”

By now Headmaster Dippet was standing. “Can Hogwarts help you two?”

Tom frowned slightly, wishing he’d heard the girl’s sentence, but kept himself from showing the irritation, watching the two strangers.

The man grinned widely, throwing open his arms. “I’m Loki! Hogwart’s guardian!”

There was a rush of warmth through the air, Headmaster Dippet looking stunned. But before anyone could say anything, the girl spun around, kicking out the man’s knees, a knife appearing in her hands at the man’s pale throat. “What are you  _ doing  _ you  _ ignorant  _ god?”

The silence was broken by the man’s soft laugh and he disappeared in a flash of green magic, reappearing to lean against the doors to the Hall. “Aww… is Tasha  _ upset _ ?”

With a flick of the girl’s hand, the knife was embedded in the man’s gut.

The whole hall watched as the man slumped to the ground, silent. 

“Oh come on! Don’t make me stab you again! We both know you’re not dead!” The girl stood, crossing her arms.

The figure faded in the same green light, Loki appearing behind the girl and throwing her over his shoulder. “You’re so small like this! Adorable really!”

The girl twisted to wrap her legs around the man, throwing her weight back. Like a acrobat, she landed on her hands, bending at the waist to throw the man across the hall. “Behave, Odinson, or I’ll stab you for real.”

Tom noticed the girl’s eyes were glowing green slightly, a shiver going up his spine.

The tall man picked himself up with a pout. “Come on Tasha! This way you can be sorted! Plus i’m supposed to be protecting you anyway for the time being…”

There was a moment of consideration, before finally the girl sighed. “Fine.”

Loki grinned, turning back to the head table. “With that, this lovely little firecracker here is Natasha, my ward. As the guardian, I want my darling little Natasha to get the  _ best  _ education she can.”

Natasha raised a hand to rub at her eyes, muttering something that made Loki grin even more.

Tom watched as the girl made her way up to the platform at the Headmaster’s instruction, sitting calmly down and taking the sorting hat from a house elf without even blinking. With one last glare at Loki, she placed the hat on her head.

The students whispered as the time grew, stretched. 

Natasha herself just looked completely indifferent, not a single emotion crossing her face. Finally though she rolled her eyes, voice coming out irritated. “Obviously  _ not _ as he just stole it! Now pick a house already!”

The sorting hat burst into laughter, it’s voice coming out loud rather than the usual inner communication it used. “Very well. You asked for it. Just try not to burn down the castle, Red Queen...” The girl flinched. “I place you in… SLYTHERIN!”

Tom had made up his mind. 

Natasha was going to be the newest addition in his collection whether she knew it or not.

 

Natasha clenched her jaw, taking the hat of and barely resisting the urge to rip the dumb thing apart. It had spent over ten minutes of looking over her memories and then decided to place her in  _ Slytherin _ ?

Not that she wasn’t cunning or ambitious or anything, but she wanted to kill half the people in the house, not to mention the boy that had been eyeing her like a hungry wolf. 

Tom Riddle was going to _massively_ get on her nerves.

Instead of heading to that table though, she waved a finger at Loki, marching to end of the Ravenclaw table.

“Miss Natasha, Slytherin is over there-”

She looked to Loki, speaking Russian angrily. 

The man rolled his eyes, looking at the Headmaster. “She says she doesn’t speak English...” 

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him, muttering in the rough language.

Loki sighed. “And that there are no rules against sitting at another table, due to section 8 rule 45 of the Hogwarts guidelines.”

The headmaster looked sour. “Very well. But I expect you to stay in the Slytherin dorm-”

She snapped and a book fell into the man’s soup, over to the page on how the Guardian of Hogwarts and their family had separate rooms, watching as the man’s face grew darker. With an eye roll, she turned back to her plate, conversing with Loki quietly in Russian and ignoring the eyes on her back.

 

Natasha wasn’t in the Slytherin dorms when everyone returned from dinner and even as the whole house waited in suspense for the strange yet powerful girl to walk through the door, it wasn’t for another hour when the large doors flew open and Loki stomped in, dragging the girl behind him. His voice was a mix between irritated and tired. “Come on you brat! You have to at  _ least  _ introduce yourself!”

The girl was laying on the ground, her wrist in the man’s pale grip and her emerald green eyes were narrowed at the man. “What’re you gonna do, you two-bit god? Threaten me with a time-out? Call my dead parents?”

Loki dropped her wrist. “Get up and act like your age or I swear to Frigga i’ll call Pepper and Maria Hill on your ass.”

With a panicked look, the girl picked herself off the floor. “Blackmail! You know how they get!” The look she got in return was cold and the girl sighed, waving her hand. With a shimmer, she was dressed in black slacks and a flowing white blouse, eyes floating over the room. “Right. Hello, my name’s Natasha. But, as I have absolutely no intention in spending more time in here than absolutely necessary, please see that you forget I exist as soon as I exit these door-”

“ _ Romanova _ !” Loki hissed, his own sea green eyes flashing.

Freezing in where she’d turned back for the door, Natasha turned back. The whole room sucked in a breath at the way her eyes were glowing as green as the killing curse. “You know not to use that name,  _ Laftyson. _ ”

There was a pause before the man’s lips curled into a smile that was almost fond, teasing. “Come on Tasha. An hour of human interaction and I’ll braid your hair before bed.”

With a soft sigh, the green-eyed girl’s shoulders sagged. “You owe me for this one Lokes.” After another look passed between the two of them, the girl smiled and immersed herself into the crowd.

Tom watched with intrigue curling in his gut, as the red-haired girl wove through the crowd, flopping down in a dark green armchair and then proceeded to guide half the room into conversation, the other half watching.

Then Lestrange leaned in eyes glinting. “You’re a mudblood, right? You were wearing muggle clothes earlier.”

“I don’t know my parents, but-” Natasha smiled viciously, leaning in as well. “I was raised by a muggle organization that made child soldiers,  _ spies  _ for the war.”

Lestrange didn’t look impressed. “You’re lying. You’re just a filthy-”

Natasha stood up suddenly, but a pale hand wrapped around her upper arm stopped her.

“Natasha.” Loki’s voice was flat, emotionless as he looked at the boy over where her eyes were glowing again. “The sooner you put that away, the sooner we can go back to our rooms, and we both know that tomorrow morning you can get rid of all that tension when I wipe the floor with you. Your hand to hand combat  _ has  _ been getting rusty.”

The room fixed on where a knife had appeared in her hand.

A second later it was gone and she straightened, eyeing the man behind her with a scowl. “You’ve yet to beat me Loki and tomorrow won’t make a difference.” 

“You were going to stab me!” Lestrange looked shook, his eyes wide. “What are you,  _ mad _ ?”

Natasha’s lips quirked into a smile as she looked at Loki. “What do you think, God of Mischief?”

“Oh yeah. You’re definitely two screws loose. But that might just be dying over and over.”

The girl snorted, moving with him to the door. “Bet I die before the month’s out. We both know that that little psycho-” The door swung closed behind them.

Tom watched the closed door, lost in thought as Lestrange ranted about the new girl

 

Tom smiled at the girl in front of him, the same smile that would bring most girls to the knees. “Ladies shouldn't curse.”

She narrowed her vibrant green eyes, like she could see though his attitude. “Get  _ fucked _ .”

A bubble of irritation curled in his chest. “Will you not even take my advice?”

Natasha grinned, leaning in so that their noses were only inches apart, her voice a whisper. “Would a spider take advice on how to spin it’s web from a snake?... I think not.” 

Tom found himself leaning forward, but when the girl danced off to the potion’s closet he barely caught his balance on the table.


	2. Oh, So You Think You Can Make The Devil Love Again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I will warn- This story is not a happy one. Read the tags please.
> 
> If you want a fluffy and 'good' story between Tom Riddle and Natasha- wait until I post the next story in the series- this one is not that.

“You know, in another life I killed you.” 

Tom looked up at where Natasha was watching him instead of doing the transfiguration spell. Glad that he'd made it a point to sit next to the strange witch whenever he could, he raised a single eyebrow and tilted his head. “And why did you do that?”

After a long second, those green,  _ green  _ eyes boring into his soul, Natasha just smiled. “I’m not sure.”

“Hmm...” The want to  _ claim, crush, defeat _ writhed in his chest. His brain supplied him an image of Natasha bowed at his feet, tears in defeated green eyes and he had to keep his hand from curling around the rebellious girl’s throat. His voice was soft, controlled as always, even through the dark thoughts. “And will you do it again?”

The laugh she gave was soft, like the chime of bells and it made him want to _ control, maim, destroy  _ even more. But the sad look in her eyes stopped him short, like she knew exactly what was going through his brain. 

“Maybe.” With a smile that didn’t reach those impossibly sad emerald eyes, she turned back to doing the spell perfectly.

That night Tom couldn’t sleep, mind running over every possible reason for why those green eyes would look so sad and yet so determined at the same time- the word  _ ‘maybe’ _ rattling around in his head.

 

Natasha found herself shoved up against the stone corridor, in a darkened alcove. 

“You dare?” Tom’s eyes were narrowed into slits, voice furious. “You dare and kill my _birthright_? You dare walk into  _ my  _ home and take _everything_ from me?”

“Ah.” Natasha didn’t let her face show any of the dark glee she felt inside at knowing she’d made the dark lord crack. That her killing his precious snake would rattle him this much. “So you found my note.”

The hands shoved her back against the stone harder. “ _ How _ ? How’d you get down there?”

Her stare was blank, watching as his eyes got more and more angry, almost crazed. “Magic.” 

“I could kill you!” His hiss was sharp.

“And why haven’t you?” Natasha tilted her head.

She watched as Tom paused, eyes narrowing further if it was possible. “You make me  _ feel _ .” He spat like it was a curse. “And I hate it. It stops.  _ Now _ .”

With another shove, the boy stomped off.

Natasha hummed under her breath. “That was entertaining.”

She glanced back at where Loki’s spirit seemed to melt out of the shadows. “Only you would find that entertaining... though I have a feeling he won’t like it when he can’t just stop feeling.”

Her eyes drifted to where the boy had just been, hands rubbing at where reddish marks bloomed across the skin of her arms. "Maybe... I can use this towards my advantage."

 

Natasha made her way into the Slytherin common room, knowing that Tom Riddle was holding his court. Locking eyes with the pale boy, she moved to the edge of a half circle that was watching her, pressing her lips together. “You want me.”

The group went silent, all finally noticing the way that Tom’s eyes were locked with hers, no one else able to hold all of his attention like she did. 

Perfect lips curled up into a cruel smile. “Came to give yourself up?”

She grimaced. “I came to make a deal with you.” She didn’t let him talk past the ugly noise that he made. “We both know that i’m easily more powerful than you, or Dumbledore, or anyone you could try to replace me with. We both know that you won’t stop until one of us is dead... or you own me.” 

His eyes gleamed in the firelight and she saw a few people shiver. 

“I’ll make a vow to be completely and wholly yours as long as you never hurt another person.”

A chorus of laughter broke out among the group, thinking their Lord would never take that just to have a single girl- powerful or not.

The victorious sneer that crossed his lips had the whole group quieting. “And do  _ you  _ count in that? Am I allowed to hurt _you_?”

Natasha’s gut twisted, her answer only a quiet whisper. “No… I guess not.”

“Then I accept.” Tom grinned, teeth too white. “Go on. Vow yourself to me, darling.”

Closing her eyes, she penned out a message for Loki in her mind, hoping he would find it in the morning wherever he was. “I, Natasha Romanoff, Daughter of Light and Dark-” Her tattoos burned on her arms like a warning. “-vow myself to Tom Marvolo Riddle completely, with the exception of being free from this vow if Tom Marvolo Riddle  _ or his magic _ hurt another person outside the bond.”

She could see a flash of irritation at her for closing the loophole of his magic hurting someone, before it was gone and he was standing gracefully. “Well then darling… shall we have our honeymoon?”

 

Some days it was okay.

Some days Tom Riddle would stand over her and kiss her exposed skin and whisper sweet words to her. He would worship her like she was a goddess, having her perform magic that the man would never be able to do, watching her like she was the sun in his ever rotating orbit.

But yet…

There were days- to many to count- where the man was worse than anything she’d seen before. Long gone was the warmth in his eyes, the praises on his lips. She was nothing but a tool for him on those days.

Natasha had thought long ago that she’d felt all the pain that was out there. That the Red Room had numbed her to everything that was ‘pain’.

Tom Riddle strived to prove her wrong on those days. But he’d never let her die. He’d take her to the very edge of death, blood covering the sheets, throat ripped apart by screams- and he’d heal her back up.

Start over again with a 'blank canvas'.

Though, even with the days he’d come back somewhere in between hate and obsession, telling her stories of the villages that his Death Eaters had burned to ashes… she never regretted what she’d done. 

Tom Riddle would never be as feared if his supporters did all the work for him and slowly him not being able to hurt anyone would eat away at even his own loyal troops. 

He’d never be revered as a god here. 

And deep down, she knew the man was figuring this out, was seeing  _ why  _ she’d come to him and given herself up. 

Then it was just the process of waiting. 

Tom Riddle was terrified of being taken as weak, but at the same time his obsession with her had only festered like a infected wound. 

Natasha just had to wait it out. 

Eventually the man would choose. His pride, ambitions, and everything he’d ever wanted… or her.

And when he chose, she would be there to watch as he destroyed himself.

 

With a blinding light, she felt the chains around her magic shatter and fall to the ground. Eyes flying open, Natasha looked over to where Tom stormed into the room. “On your knees!”

Natasha instead slid off the bed, standing in front of Tom. “Oh darling…”

The Dark Lord’s eyes narrowed on her. “What are you doing! I said  _ on your knees _ !”

Shaking her head, she smiled. “You seem to forget who I am love…” With a flick of her wrist, he was pinned to the wall, not able to move. “You seem to forget our  _ deal… _ ”

Enraged eyes widened. “No! If you leave now I swear i’ll-”

“Oh... I know. I know you’ll go _insane_ trying to get me back.” She brushed a hand across his jawbone. “But sometimes, even  _ you  _ have to know when you’ve lost.”

He thrashed against the binds that held him. “No one else will take you! No one else would  **dare** touch you! Everyone knows you’re  **mine** !”

“They say the loveliest angels make the cruelest demons, and darling, you were so beautiful before they dragged you to  _ hell _ .” She laughed, a mocking sound, moving so her words caressed his ear. “Don’t worry my love, I’ll make sure you die by my hand… but until then? I’m going to go find a better husband.”

Natasha disappeared, leaving Tom thrashing in his binds.

Loki’s spirit looked at her with a raised eyebrow when she appeared in the living room of the small house she’d cast fidelius on, Death being the secret keeper. “It’s been a while.”

She stumbled, the lack of food and the bruises that had yet to heal catching up to her. “Oh, you know, just getting tortured by my boyfriend, the Dark Lord.” Sitting down heavily on the sofa, she felt her cheeks grow wet. “I thought… I thought I could change him.”

Loki’s hands were just a feather’s touch through her hair. “I know…” His eyes were so very sad that she found herself closing hers so she didn’t have to look at them. “I know my dear... I know…”

 

Tom got notes on his birthday in neat cursive writing that sent him into madness, he threw everything aside to go check out sightings of red-headed witches, and grew slowly more and more obsessed with finding Natasha. 

Someone saw her with blood-traitor Sirius Black? The man showed up dead in Diagon Alley days later.

Natasha got close to the werewolf, Lupin? The pack tore him apart and left his head in front of Hogwarts.

Those green eyes haunted his brain day and night, so when he was told the prophecy, and found one of the children’s mothers had red hair and green eyes, he swore to kill the family.

Even with the way Severus Snape tried to stop him, he’d decided Lily Potter’s fate.

But in the dead of night, after sending the wards crashing down, a slow wolf-whistle made him freeze. Turning slowly, he met eyes with the woman who haunted his every thought, who hadn't aged a day from the beautiful woman she’d grown into.

“Hey there,  _ Hubby _ ... Looking for someone?”

With a inhuman growl, he flung himself into battle with the woman whose place in his heart had slowly turned to boiling hate.

 

Natasha stood over Tom Riddle’s body. 

The man that’d killed her husbands. 

The reason why she’d had to tell Clinton that his daddies weren’t coming home.

James and Lily Potter came out of their house, crying and hugging Natasha. 

She hugged them back, kissed Harry’s little head, and then went home to tell Clinton that the bad man was gone for good. That they could settle down, she could raise her adopted son in peace. 

 

The music started, the air light and warm in the old greenhouse. She’d come out here after the funeral for her husbands, her son at the Potter’s house for the weekend.

The atmosphere seemed to almost change around her, magic charging the air with something… beautiful. 

Something she hadn’t felt in such a long time.

Her eyes slipped closed, head tilting back as she basked in the warmth. A cold hand slid into hers and she tilted her head forward, eyes slipping open. 

Loki smiled. “May I have this dance?”

“Is this your first or your last?” Natasha moved with the man easily, eyes never leaving his. 

“Last.” Loki’s smile was grim. “We got married this time, adopted-… Well it didn’t turn out all that well.”

There was a lump in her throat. “Thanos?”

“Figured I would get one dance with a friendly face before I died and my husband and child were killed… You?”

“I- uh- Got married. Adopted a son. But they still died... because I let my guard down.”

Loki chuckled bitterly. “Guess we need some worse music then.” He snapped, the song changing. 

_ ‘Hurt’  _ by Johnny Cash came on and Natasha smiled, laying her head on the man’s shoulder. “What was their name? Your kid?”

“Harry.”

Natasha sobbed out a short laugh, fingers pulling the man closer as they swayed to the music. “Sirius’ idea?”

“Yeah.” 

A weight, and then she felt her shoulder grow damp and she realized he was crying into her neck, her own eyes feeling heavy with tears. “You don’t have to go back. You dont- You could stay here for a little while...”

There was a long pause before Loki coughed, voice coming out hoarse. “Thanks Romanova, but I’d rather die with my family than stay here... You know how it is.” 

“He’ll find you again. He’s persistent like that.” She hoped that she was right, for the man’s sake. “He’ll find you and make this all better.”

Loki pulled back, smile shaky and he took a step back, bowing. “Red Queen.”

She mimicked the bow. “King of Asgard.”

“What do we old gods do?” The man tilted his head.

“We great Death with open arms.” She grinned, a hint of viciousness in it as she pulled Loki in for one last hug. “I’ll put in a good word or two… See you on the flipside?”

Loki's smile was soft, fond in the moonlight. “Until we meet again Black Widow.”  With a flicker of green light, he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And from here, we get to the beginning of the end ^-^

**Author's Note:**

> And from here... it will get a little darker.


End file.
